Pneumatic time-signal for railway-trains



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

O. M. SEXTON.

PNEUMATIC TIME SIGNAL FOR RAILWAY TRAINS.

No. 317,224. Patented May 5, 1885.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

C. M. SEXTON. PNEUMATIC TIME SIGNAL FOR RAILWAY TRAINS. No. 317,224;Patented May 1885.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFI E,

CHARLES MURTON SEXTON, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS.

PNEUMATIC TIME-SIGNAL FOR RAlLWAY-TRAlNS.

PECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 317,224, dated May 5,1885.

Application filed November 28, 188-1. (No model.)

To (1 whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES MURTON TON, of Aurora, in the county of Kaneand State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Train-Signals for Railways; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part 7 of thisspecification,

The object of my invention is to provide a means whereby the engineer orother officer of a train approaching the signal may discover, byglancing his eye at the dial of the apparatus, just how many minutessince the next preceding train left the place where such signal isplaced, and which may be anywhere along the road, and even miles distantfrom a station, thus giving him accurate information as to whether itwas behind or ahead of its time, and consequently governing him in therunning of his own train slower or faster as need be to insure safetyand avoid running into the train ahead.

It consists in mechanism and appliances, which will presently bedescribed, such that the passing train will actuate through properinstrumentalities the hand or index-pointer to move it to the zero-point011 the dial, and of mechanism which, after such train shall havepassed, will move such hand or pointer with a steady movement,corresponding in time to the minute-hand of awatch or clock. Thus theengineer of each train running in the same direction not only perceiveshow far ahead of him in time is the next preceding train; but his trainin passing also sets back the pointer to zero to perform a similar dutyfor the train next to follow.

Figure 1 is a side elevation, showing the signal adapted for two dials;Fig. 2, avertical section of an apparatus embodying my invention, Fig.3, a view of a counterbalanceweight; Fig. 4, a face view of the dial andits indicating-hand; Fig. 5, a detail (enlarged) of the metalscrew-plug; Fig. 6, a detail (enlarged) of disk-valve, and Fig. 7 adetail (err larged) of the piston of the air-pump.

A is a lever of the third order, centered, as shown at b, between therails of the railwaytrack, and having an upward projection, c, which,when this lever is in its proper position to be actuated by the wheelsof a locomotive, projects a little above the top line of the rail at itsouter side, so that the wheel shall depress the lever. Beneath the otherend of this lever is a suitable coiled or other spring, (I, exerting aconstant tendency to press upward this end, and with it, of course, thispiece or projection c, which should be arched at its upper face, tooffer no abrupt obstruction to the passage of the wheel upon and overit. Attached to this same end of the lever is a piston-rod, e, andpiston f, working in a cylinder, 9, thus constituting an air-pump, thepiston having any suitable number of perforations or air-passages f, andany appropriate valve-h, which may be a disk of leather or rubber placedon top of the piston. Connected to this air-pump cylinder, and near itstop, is an air-conducting tube, j, which allows air driven out of thispump to be forced into an inverted vessel or can, It, closed at top andopen at its bottom, and which is inserted in another vessel, Z, open attop and closed at its bottom, similarly to a gas-holder at a gasworks,the tube j passing up through the bottom of the vessel l and terminatinginside of the inverted vessel It at a point abpve the line of the liquidto be placed in the vessel Z.

A check-valve or cock, at, permits the control of or the cutting off thecurrent of air forced through the pipe or tube j.

The vessel Z is placed or secured on any suit able stationary support,a, and the vessel or cup k is provided at its top with any appro' priateadjustable air valve or cook, and whereby the expulsion or exit of airmay be controlled to any degree required. As a convenient form or styleof valve, I have shown it as made of a metal screw-plug, p, tapering atits lower end, and having a longitudinal diminishing groove, g, at oneside,'serving as the air-passage, and between the head 1' of this plug(and by means of which it is turned for adjustment) and the top of thepart 70 isarubher piece or block, 8. The turning of this screw downwardcloses the air-exit passage to any needed degree, or entirely, ifdesired, and the turning of it backward serves to graduate the expulsionof the air to the requisite degree, and to control accordingly theconsequent descent of the vessel 7c, and this descent actuates the dialhand or hands, as will now be described. The weight of vessel 70 shouldbe somewhat greater than that of the weight w on the cord in order toovercome this weight and any resistance due to friction, so that thisvessel may be free to descend in the degree that air is permitted toescape from the valve 2.

Cords t 15, attached to the rising and falling part 7c, pass upward, andare each wound several times, but each in an opposite direction, aroundits respective roller-shaft, to the outer end of each of which shafts(or to one only, if only one dial is needed) is affixed the hand orpointer a, an appropriate dial, o, being used for each pointer, andmarked off with the hours and minutes, like the face of a clock orwatch. These cords each leads from its shaft to another shaft placedhigh enough above it to allow the weight a:,which is attached to thecords, to descend as low as the rising of the part 7t may require, andwithout interfering with any of the mechanism. This weight need not bedirectly abovethe vessel; but by means of appropriate guide pulleys orrollers may be made to rise and fall off at one side or Whereverconvenient.

The vessell being supplied with glycerine or other suitable liquid, asabove stated, and

the apparatus being suitably located at a station in a position wherethe engineer or officer of an incoming train can plainly see the hand onthe dial, the part k of the vessel is raised, and the valve,by the aidof an accurate watch, is then so adjusted that the movement of thedial-hand it, caused by the slow gravitating descent of the part k inthe vessel 1, shall be in exact accord with the movement of theminute-hand :of the watch, the minute-marks on the dial each indicatinga minute of actual time. The apparatus,after the descent of the part toits lowest point, is now ready, its hand being say, fortv-five minutes,and the lever is in position to be moved by the wheels by depressing thelever, operate the air-pump valve f, and this in turn forces air throughtube j into the part 70 of the vessel Z,raising it, as before stated, sothat its attached cords moveback the pointer to zero. The trainhavingleft the apparatus is free to act, and as its pointer moves aminute-mark for every minute, a glance shows to any observer and to theengineer of the next arriving train just how many minutes since the nextpreceding train left the signal. -When this second train leaves, thesame operation is repeated, the

The locomotive-wheels,

wheels again putting the pointer back to zero, 'and'every train does thesame, so that a glance always shows how many minutes since the lasttrain left. To illustrate: Suppose train No. 1 leaves at nine o clockand sets the signal at zero, and that train No. 2-will leave or pass thesignal at 9.20, its engineer will then see that No. 1 train has beengone twenty minutes. Let train No. 3 leave at ten o clock, and thesignal will then show that train No. 2 has been gone forty minutes. No.4, a fast train, leaves, say, at 10.40; but when it reaches the signalit may appear from the signal that train No. 3 has been gone thirtyminutes, showing that No. 4 has gained ten minutes on train No. 3. Thuseach train can be advised by this signal apparatus of just how many.minutes the preceding train is ahead, and whether it is slower or fasterthan such train, and can determine its own speed accordingly, much tothe safety of the traveling public.

The whole train may pass before the lever A can rise enough whendepressed by the lecomotive-wheels to be materially affected by anyother wheels of the train, this rising movement of the lever being slowbecause of the compressed air in the air-pump.

The pointer will move backward as fast as air is forced into the vesselIt, and the current is checked by the check -valve m not being allowed.to rise but a very little, or by a cock in thepipe, and in case of acock this cock will admit air slowly to the vessel k.

The cook or valve 1) does not admit air, but permits it to flow outslowly.

It will be understood that I do not limit myself to any particular orderof lever, nor to its form, nor to any particular arrangement ofcounter-balance or weight.

In some cases the lever may be of the first order, its fulcrum beingnear the outside of one of the railway-tracks and its longer arm or armsserving to lift the rising and falling air-vessel 70 by acting directlyupon any suitable bars or rods extending downward from its top. In suchcase the air-pump and its tube would be dispensed with. I prefer,however, the construction which I have previously described above.

I claim 1. A railway-signal for indicating to a train approaching thesignal the length of time since the last preceding train left thesignal, comprising, incombination, a lever operated by a passing train,a rising and falling liquid-sealed airchamber actuated by connectionsfrom said lever, and cords or chains connecting such airchambcr tocounterbalancing weights, and passing around rollers or shafts to whichis attached the indicating or signaling hand, substantially as setforth.

2. In a railway -signal for indicating the length of time since the lastpreceding train left the signal, the combination of a lever operated bya passing train, an air-pump actuated by such lever, an air-tube leadingfrom tube, stationary vessel, rising and falling such pump to aliquidsealed air-chamber archamber, and an adjustable valve thereon forr0 ranged to rise and fall, and weighted cords or controlling at willthe exit of air from such chains connected to such chamber and servingchamber, and for the purpose set forth.

5 to actuate the handof the signaling-dial, sub- CHARLES MURTON SEXTON.

stantially as set forth. Witnesses:

3. In combination with the lever, an air 0. H. REEVES,

pump provided with an adjustable valve, the V. T. REEVES.

